Authentication Schemes

The first task when implementing security is to determine the identity of the user trying to access the application. This is commonly achieved via a login page where a username and password are entered. A login page may also include a digital certificate or secure key as an additional measure, in order to verify that the user is who they actually say they are. The login details are then validated against a user repository to check whether the user account exists and the password entered is correct. If the user passes these checks they are allowed to access the application.

In APEX, we implement this authentication process through the use of Authentication Schemes. Authentication Schemes are a standard way to handle the processing of a login page and managing if a user's session is active. There are a number of ways we can store user accounts that influence how login processing needs to be handled. APEX makes our life easier by providing a number of preconfigured Authentication...